Only By Night

Saturday 21st Heart's Hold

(1 week after Hearts & Hoofs day)

'What was that dream about' Twilight thought to herself as the sun began to rise over the hills of Ponyville. She had been having this same nightmare since Luna returned to visit her a week ago. Before then the poor mare had been sat by the window of her castle every night, yearning to see Luna again. But the sudden surprise visit last week, although very welcomed, had left poor Twilight confused as to what her true intentions were. Still though, Twilight was immediately excited by this.

'This could be a sign that she's coming back' Twilight thought as she looked towards the balcony she had so waited by for so many moons.

This excitement however was short lived as the worries drifted back into her mind as she wrestled with her thoughts.

'I didn't get much chance to ask why there was such a gap, and to come back after all that time just for that? Was it revenge that she couldn't carry out, or is it simply to mess my feelings around, was this her big plan? In retrospect, how could I have when I was so pleased to see her after so much time. What am I even thinking, if anypony found out, it would be the biggest scandal in all of Equestrian history.' Originally she came all those moons ago on that wonderful night during midsummer to exact her revenge, but it was as if she was beaten by her own affections towards me. As if somehow she couldn't bear to do it, and instead showed her true colors.' Twilight thought as she looked back to recall the events that lead to that first encounter.

The memories of those three days that lead to their first meeting were still as fresh in her mind as the day it happened. The Frayerburn meteor shower, the joy of the festivities, her friends all having the best night of their lives, and of course that moment during the rocket display, just as the meteor shower was in full swing..

21st Solar Flare - Midsummer's Eve

(The Previous Year)

It was a warm and crisp morning, the fresh midsummer air had a lovely warm twinge to it. The smell of the rosary gardens were pungent with the smell of sweet aromas that were carried along by the summer breeze, it was the day of the Summer Sunset Celebration, and all of Equestria was gearing up for this years main event After Celestia tasked her as the event coordinator, she needed to stay as focused as she can to ensure that the celebrations ran smoothly. Since she has had success running the celebrations since she came to Ponyville 5 years ago, she knew that she had a lot of expectations to fulfill.

However, for the last three days she had been having these strange dreams that were greatly more significant than others, she had had these dreams leading up to the celebrations. All of them involving Luna and her in some way, in the first dream, Twilight dreamt of the time she went back to when the two sisters fought that fateful night (when Twilight went back in time). In the second dream, Twilight dreamt of the Tantabus and saving Luna from her guilt, and in the third was when Twilight defeated nightmare moon on Nightmare night at the time of her return to Equestria, oddly that was also at the time of the Summer Sunset Celebrations.

"Spike, Spike!!" Twilight called down the hall after her little Dragon helper.

"Come on, were going to be late, we need to be over at the Palace before noon!"

"But its only 6am, there's loads of time!" Spike replied with an irritable yawn.

Twilight was now stood over spike as he lay in his little bed, the lavender Pony was in one of her playful moods this morning, and she was in no hurry for any delays.

"Ya know Spike, I do have a method when I need something to be done, like waking up sleepy Dragons up for example"

"Oh yeah?, wha... wha... wha... What's that?" Spike asked in a rather provocative manor.

Twilight pounced upon top of Spike, landing lightly on his tummy.

"Line, dot...Electric Shock!!!" She yelled as she began to jiggle her hoofs all over Spike.

"Ohahahahahahahhaa, stop it, Stop it! Hahahahaa Okay.. Okay, okay I'm up."  The pair of them giggling at each other as Twilight gave him a little muzzle with her nose.

"Can you take these plans for me Spike. Start by arranging them into piles of numerical order would ya?"

Although Spike was tired, he knew how important this day was for Twilight. The little dragon began to sort through the papers, plans for seating arrangements, catering recipes and spots for the forestallions in charge of the firework display, portfolios for decor and costume designs as well as a whole heap of notes taken from the Summer Sunset Summit meeting two days previously. She certainly had put a lot of effort into this. But this was no ordinary celebration, for this year was the return of the Fayerburn meteor showers, a very rare occurance that occurs once only every 800 years. The event was so poorly documented that it was almost downgraded from legend to myth, and for Twilight she made sure to put in 110% to the planning.

This was one of the things Spike loved most about her, always trying her best for everypony. But not just this, Spike knew her on much deeper levels than most, for it wasn't just about this, but the perfection of her tasks within herself. He often found it difficult when Twilight didn't meet these personal standards, would be too harsh on herself. Which is another reason Spike is so loyal, because he needs to be there when she falls, Spike had a great talent for cheering poor Twilight up in times like that.

Luna was pacing up and down her private sleeping quarters, this burning feeling brimming inside her. Luna's bedroom was quite different from that of the other Royals on Canterlot, situated in the far reaches of Canterlot castle, just down the upper corridor from where Celestia's room was. You'd think at first glance that her bedroom would be 'evil' and maybe even a little dingy looking, but this was far from the case, Luna was now a reformed alicorm. This was a nice bedroom, perfectly suited to the Princess of the night, the walls were a deep midnight blue, the arched windows with purple curtains draped around the sides. Her bed was in the shape of a crescent moon with a star patterned quilt and round fluffy moon pillows. Her slippers were just by her bed, again with crescent moons upon them and a light furry inner sole to make her feel comfortable. Luna was very much a girly pony at heart, she very much enjoyed bubble baths and soft quitly type things. But Luna was in no mood to leave the comforts and solitude of her room, there was another meeting to attend just hours before the celebrations begin, and that of course meant facing Twilight.

Knock, knock. Luna quickly gathered her composure ready to answer the door.

"It's unlocked, please come in". Said Luna.

"Good morning dear sister, how are you this morning? Are you excited for this years Celebrations?" Celestia said with a joyful expression.

"Er yes, I just had a bit of a bad dream". Luna replied.

Although this was partially a lie.

"Oh dear sweet sister, well I'm glad your awake and back with us." Celestia said.

Luna was good at keeping her game face on in times like this, although unbeknownst to her Celestia did notice something a little odd about the way she had replied, after the incident with the Tantabus the Princess would often worry about Luna having bad dreams. But quickly discarded it for the purposes of today, on top of that, there was no more Tantabus to deal with, she thought at this stage maybe she had over thought a little.

"I read last night in a book about the passing of the Fayerburn meteor showers, are you sure running the display while it is happening is a good idea?". Luna said trying to keep the conversation going.

Luna was reminded of how she missed the last passing of the showers 800 years ago, during the time of her banishment, meant that she missed this special occasion, this made her feel incredibly sad. Which only added to her continuous pain, she dismissed this as fast as Luna had finished her sentence. Today was an important day for the Ponies of Equestria, and many high nobles would be attending from all over the kingdom. She along with the other Royals of Canterlot were on best form, although Lunas was, at best holding it all together. One little thing she was happy for though, was to finally get to see the meteor showers.

"I'm sure it will work quite well, the trajectory this year of the comets are far away enough so's not to interfere with the display. Last time their course was a little too close, and did cause one of the rockets to shoot towards the crowd, luckily I managed to fire it out of the way just in time, but this year the wonderbolts will be doing their display in time with this, I have asked them to also keep a watchful eye of the comets in case any sudden changes occur". Said Princess Celestia.

Luna was a little glad hearing this for she had never seen comets before, but still wished so badly to have been there to help. The two Princesses walked down the clear quartz staircase, their hoofsies making clear soothing sounds as they hit each step, making the sound dart around them to a pleasant atmospheric tune. At the end of the hall just at the bottom of the stairs were cadence and Twilight along with some other Royal nobles from the surrounding kingdoms, this was unusual for other Royals outside of the Equestrian boarder to pay homage to such an event. But there were no other celebrations around this time, especially during the Fayerburn meteor showers, so they wished to be somewhere at least where something was happening. And Celestia for one was more than happy to accommodate them.

"Hey Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, May I present to you our Royal guests for this years event". Said Twilight in a formal and welcoming tone.

"Greetings fellow Ponies, Griffon's Yaks and Nobles. On behalf of my sister and I, I welcome you to this years Summer Sunset Celebration." "I do hope you enjoy your stay here with us". Said Princess Celestia.

Luna's heart sank.